Puppy Prayers.

This is Winnie.

Isn’t she cute? She is only 6 years old. This was taken on Memorial Day.

I always hated dogs. I’m pretty sure I had some terrible experiences with gigantic, 400-pound black German Shepherds when I was younger with sharp teeth and snarling growls. I can also be completely, utterly, ridiculously unrealistic so please ignore me. Anyway, when my brother Will was 13, my parents surprised him with a puppy. He had wanted one for as long as we all could remember. He was so happy that he cried. I cried too. Mainly because I was so horrified that I would have to share a certain amount of square footage with something that has fur and lots of drool. I was not happy.

But when Abby came she was just so cute and I loved her adorable chubby rolls of doggy skin and fur. When Abby turned 5, my dad and Will surprised my mom with a new puppy, Winnie, on Valentine’s day. I think my mom was ready to lose her mind: twice the fur + twice the craziness. But Winnie was super cute and fit right in – she rejuvenated Abby too! Well really… Winnie never got out of her puppy stage. She has eaten entire pans of 7-layer bars, rocks, and garbage without blinking an eye. I always say she has led the “hard” life. Also, for the first 5 years, anytime she would see a man walking she’d run up to him, lay down on her back, and spread all fours. Yeah. Take that as you will.

Abby passed away 2 years ago, only a week before Mother Lovett died. That wasn’t the best week. But Abby was older and we somewhat expected it as she had slowed down a lot. She actually passed away at home; we believe her stomach flipped just like in Marley and Me. Winnie seemed a little lost at first, but she had always been an attention hog so it wasn’t a big deal.

Now… Winnie started having seizures on Tuesday night. Big ones. She spent the night in the vet hospital and continued to have seizures yesterday. She is on anti-seizure meds but still is not herself. At times it is kind of funny because she looks like she is drunk. But it is also really sad. Apparently, seizures are very common in dogs – BUT they are not common once dogs mature. Considering Winnie never had anything wrong with her, these seizures most likely mean that something is not right – something in the brain is not right. I’m trying to be cautiously optimistic, but feel so bad for Winnie. She is still such a young pup (ok, 42 in dog years or whatever) and she still seems generally happy. I also can’t imagine ever having to put a dog down since we didn’t need to do so with Abby. Plus, this is a jillion times more complicated than it normally would be as we supposed to leave for the beach on Sunday. Growing up stinks.

Anywho… that’s my story. I don’t really love dogs and if you ever brought your dog near me, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t want to pet it. But I really loved Abby and I really love Winnie! So can you say a puppy prayer for Winnie? She’d totally lick you face right now if she could.